Pubdate: 19 Feb 1999
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Contact:  http://www.smh.com.au/
Author: Linda Doherty

LIBS' COLD-TURKEY JAIL FOR ADDICTS

The State Opposition would send drug-addicted prisoners for cold-turkey
treatment in drug rehabilitation jails, it announced yesterday as it
claimed the Government's $12 million Drug Court trial was "doomed to failure".

Three drug rehabilitation jails would be trialled in Sydney, the Hunter
region and country NSW in spare prisons or "secure hospital settings", the
Opposition spokeswoman on health, Mrs Skinner, said.

Convicted non-violent prisoners would volunteer for the scheme and courts
could use the Custodial Drug Treatment Programs as a sentencing option.

"It is about addicts going cold turkey with the assistance of expert
rehabilitation and medical advice," she said.

Mrs Skinner ruled out the use of methadone in the pilot programs and said
she would review the management of the methadone maintenance program if the
Coalition was elected at the March 27 election.

"Methadone is another form of addiction. It is not rehabilitation," she said.

The president of the Australian Drug Law Foundation, Dr Alex Wodak, said
the uncosted policy was light on substance "to the point of being a souffle".

He said methadone to treat drug addiction "attracts and maintains the
largest number of addicts" in NSW, with 13,000 people receiving the drug.

Mrs Skinner said the Drug Court, which has operated for less than a
fortnight, sending participants for drug rehabilitation instead of jailing
them, was "doomed to failure" because there was not enough funding for
treatment services.

The Opposition Leader, Mrs Chikarovski, has supported the Drug Court but
expressed similar concerns about the use of methadone as a treatment option.

The Drug Court will receive $12 million in government funding over two
years, including $5.6 million for drug treatment programs for 300 offenders.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney-General, Mr Shaw, said the Opposition's plan
was a "bad imitation of the Drug Court", because it failed to provide the
incentive of rehabilitation over incarceration.

He said the only surplus jails in NSW were Maitland, which has been leased
to Maitland City Council as a tourist facility, and Cooma, now being
assessed for its future use.

Dr Wodak said the Opposition plan would have to fund accommodation and
prison-level staffing, and would divert money from detoxification and
rehabilitation services.

"It really is in the distinguished tradition of the tax-and-spend approach
to illicit drug policy with no outcomes," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Corrective Services, Mr Debus, said 70
per cent of NSW prisoners were held on drug-related offences and every jail
had rehabilitation services.

"You need to address the problem across the system, not just segregate a
handful of offenders in a separate jail," she said.

Mrs Skinner said her plan came from a Maitland couple, Allan and Suzanne
Forrester, whose 22-year-old daughter had fought drug addiction since she
was 14.

Mr Forrester said yesterday his daughter had been admitted to six
rehabilitation programs but consistently left after a few days.

"The addict needs to be made to come to terms with their addiction. They
are in with a chance in a custodial setting, with counselling and medical
back-up," he said. 
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